Published 1:44 am, Thursday, January 27, 2011

Norman Dulaney is searching for a new place to eat breakfast after Plainview's Kettle restaurant closed its doors.

"One of the waitresses called me (Tuesday) afternoon," Dulaney said this morning. "I've been eating breakfast out there for the last 5-6 years, and a lot of times lunch, too, and she didn't want me to get there and them not be open."

It's that kind of friendliness and thoughtfulness that Dulaney, owner of Dulaney's Auto Parts the last 60-plus years and Plainview's reigning Man of the Year, will miss most about the Kettle, where he could be found many mornings by 5:30 a.m.

"There were some nice people out there," he said. "They had good waitresses, and the food was all right. They'd do anything in the world to please you."

Several signs on the restaurant, located on I-27, state the building is for sale.

The Herald received a report Tuesday that people could be seen inside the restaurant crying. Calls to the restaurant went unanswered, and phone messages left with the chain's corporate office were not immediately returned.

Dulaney said he knew business had slowed at the Kettle, but he didn't think it was to the point that they would close.

"I sure am (surprised)," he said of the restaurant suddenly shutting down around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Dulaney said a lot of truck drivers ate at the restaurant.

"They were a lot busier in the past," he said. "Three years ago they had a lot more business than what they've had in the past year.

"Business is slow all over town," he added.

Dulaney said he was always happy with the service and the food.

"I never had any problem," he said.

According to the company's Web site, Kettle Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1968 in Nacogdoches. The company has 21 restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.